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We took a quick trip up to Santa Barbara to enjoy time off during the holidays. It was my first visit. We arrived and wanted to see the Mission. The outside was under construction and lots o people were there. As I asked for ticket prices…they told me no tripods allowed. Blah! So next time…gorilla pod! We stayed at a hotel right next to the beach. About 1/2 mile from the wharf. Nice! The weather was wonderful and we awoke this morning to catch some early AM HDR’s. As the sun rose…HDR time was complete. Now it was time to shoot in Infrared! The beach is lined with stoic palm trees. Just an amazing sight! I snapped bunches of pics while walking back…this one is a small snippet of the palm trees. Enjoy the view!

We have been enjoying Friday nights at Balboa (Newport Beach)…we head down and rent bikes to ride along the beach paths and last nite we took the 1 mile ride to the Wedge to watch the surfers. We wanted to get back to the pier for sunset….as we were peddling back I saw the sun fading fast and pulled my bike over to grab this photo near the pier. SoCal at its best!!

If you come visit my hometown…a must see is the Nixon Library. The tour is decent, but the view of the reflecting pool is tough to beat! I posted an IR version of this shot a while back. This is the normal view. Both very cool! Enjoy!

I posted a similar photo in infrared a few weeks back. I liked the location so much I decided to shoot it in HDR as well. Now all HDR artists know well…HDR + mid afternoon = blah. How did I help out the blahs? I shot this HDR with ND Filter. In day light with a hint of clouds I anted to maximize my exposure times. The ND filter helped out this mid day HDR tremendously. They say not to HDR in mid-day…I say why not!

What is a photog to do in SoCal when it is sunny most of the time? Shoot in Infrared. This shot is from Laguna Beach. A short walk from the Montage Spa & Hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean. You can see a small part of it in the pic. This is my favorite spot in all of SoCal. You can find some seats that overlook the sea along the walking path and if you are here at sunset…stunning views! On this day about 1 mile out from the coast I could see a whale pop out of the ocean! How cool is that! If you are even in SoCal…Laguna has lots to offer!

From my hometown of Yorba Linda, CA…the Richard Nixon Library and Museum is down the road a few minutes from my house. I had never visited and decided to take a lunch and run over for a few photos. SoCal is known for sunshine and cloudless days….so I brought along my IR Camera. I took the tour and it was a cool experience. I took a few HDR’s look for them here soon. The shot above is of the reflecting pool. Probably the best shot at this location. Perfect for a mid afternoon infrared shot! Enjoy!!